Armored Core: Answer of the End
by TemplarXero
Summary: A retelling of the events of Armored Core 4 and For Answer with Merc (aka Anatolia's Mercenary), Vic, and Anya.


**Prologue: Legends Aren't Born**

Take out the enemy transports. It was a simple enough request for a simple mission, even for Normals. What the client had failed to mention was the transports were hauling.

Now the small squad of three Normals were squaring off against a prototype Rayleonard NEXT, armed with a quintuple-barreled chaingun and an oversized plasma cannon. Not to mention Primal Armor that was strong enough to deflect or absorb their meager attacks.

All three of the pilots had been considered some of the top Ravens during the National Dismantlement War and had the highest amount of team cohesion among them. Anya was the CQC specialist, hitting enemies with a burst of machine gun fire and finishing them off with a slash from her Enkidu's Moonlight blade. Vic kept her covered with a combined barrage of assault rifles, grenades, and a sniper cannon mounted onboard his Euclid. Merc provided support with mid-range assault rifle fire and missile barrages from his Evoke.

Against most foes in the Dismantlement War, they were unstoppable. But NEXTS were on a whole different level from their Normal ACs. Sporting Primal Armor and powerful new weaponry, the small number of active NEXTS had managed to become the top dogs of the military world, even outclassing legendary Ravens like Hustler One and 13.

The Euclid had had both its legs blown off and half its core melted. The AC now lay in a sparking heap unmoving, its pilot unconscious. Merc was trying his best to keep up with the NEXT's maneuvers, all while continuing to fire off his dwindling supply of ammunition. Anya had to constantly boost just to stay within close-range of it. Then suddenly, the NEXT stopped moving, turning to face its pursuer.

"Your mine now!" Anya shouted at the machine. She activate her overboost and charged straight at it, readying her Moonlight to deliver the final strike. Just as the energy blade was about to slice through its Primal Armor, the air around the NEXT began to glow.

In the span of only a second, the NEXT's Primal Armor had condensed into a tight ball. The ball exploded out in a destructive wave of high-density Kojima particles, knocking away the Enkidu. The AC rolled along the ground several times before coming to a violent stop at the base of a cliff.

Its pilot hadn't fared well either. One of her arms refused to move and it hurt to breath, indicating that several of her ribs had broken or shattered in the turbulence. "Come on Enkidu, just hang in there a little longer", she pleaded with the machine. Anya struggled to get the Armored Core back on its feet, despite the sounds of metallic protests coming from its entire frame. It fell back to the ground, making her cough up blood onto the view screen. "I see, you're down for good then. Thanks for putting up with me up 'til now."

The NEXT loomed over her, aiming its plasma cannon directly at her core. She didn't close her eyes or look away as the barrel began to glow, wanting to see her life up until the end. Just as the massive weapon was about to discharge its high-energy ordinance, Evoke slammed into the side of the NEXT, knocking it off balance.

"Let's see how you deal with these point-blank!" He fired off all of his remaining missiles into the machine's head, creating a massive shockwave that catapulted the Evoke off the NEXT in a cloud of black smoke and fire. Both Armored Cores fell to the ground, their metallic frames remaining unmoving.

"Hey, Merc", Anya called over the comm, "We had a good run, didn't we?"

"Yeah", the older mercenary responded, his breathing labored, "We sure did kid." His weak laughter was joined by hers, stopping as he fell into unconsciousness. She almost followed suit as the edges of her vision began to blur away. As the darkness began to cover her sight, she became dimly aware of something tapping against her AC.

The cockpit's emergency release unlocked, causing the hatch to slowly slide open. Just before everything faded to black, she saw another's figure outlined in the bright sunlight. A million questions about who they were and why they had opened her core formed in her mind. All of them went unanswered as she fell into the same state as her cohorts.

* * *

><p>Note from the Author: I'll be working on this one parallel to the Code Zero story I've been editing. However, there will be a large timegap between uploads since I'll be absent for around 8 weeks after January 27. So for those of you who actually read these, thank you in advance for your patience.<p> 


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